Erin Carson
Erin Carson Erin Carson got her start as a waitress at a very popular but very badly run bar on Beacon 212. The manager ran out on some heavy debts, leaving her with a bar full of staff and customers needing somebody to take charge. Within a week she had a grasp on the full workings of the bar and built a new relationship with the suppliers and creditors, convincing them threats and closures meant they would never see their money back, whereas a thriving bar, properly run could not only see them paid back, but if she offered them a share of the bar they could make a profit instead of a loss. With proper management the bar soon became a gold mine, and a major draw to traffic who would go out of their way to make Beacon 212 their regular stop-off. Carson began eyeing up bars on nearby stations, creating good relations with the businesses and minor criminals who operated there. An opportunity to buy the biggest bar at the main hub station Beacon 200 came along, but competition was fierce, and the interest from bigger criminal groups as a place to conduct less than legal activities was significant. The closer she got to closing a deal the stronger the intimidation got, and while she was personally fearless, she knew the threats were not empty. She confided in someone who had become a regular customer, Police Officer Leo Jameson, on the promise he wouldn't swoop in like a white knight and try to fix everything, telling him that seeking official Police intervention would see her killed. He introduced her to his friend, Luther Dawson, a PPB officer with a fierce reputation, and they agreed they would apply leverage to make Erin's life easier. She never discovered what they had done, but the intimidation stopped, and she was able to clinch the deal and take ownership of the bar. The three became the closest of friends, with Carson playing the two off each other light-heartedly, though knowing both had feelings for her they would be glad to develop. The reputation of the three spread wide enough among the beacons and stations that Erin Carson was soon known as someone you wanted to do business with, and Leo Jameson and Luther Dawson were people you didn't want to mess with. As time went by and Carson acquired more bars and restaurants, Leo Jameson moved more solidly into the territory of friendship, and Luther Dawson moved into more romantic territory. Dawson was experiencing a rapid rise through the ranks, while Jameson's singular personality meant his career progression was still somewhat dragging. The morning Luther was due to accept his promotion to the rank of Admiral and take his seat in the PPB Admiralty, Luther - hinting at a proposal of marriage - had arranged to have a celebratory lunch with Erin at the first planet based restaurant she had bought, a pretty bistro on the busiest concours of Baxter's World, the capital world of the PPB. As they greeted each other a bomb blast ripped through the bistro, inflicting massive injuries on the two of them, though they themselves were sitting outside. Carson was taken to a public hospital, while Luther's mentor, Over-Admiral Milo Wrekin, arranged for Dawson to be taken to a secure military hospital specialising in war injuries. The rumour was that it was an assassination attempt on Dawson by a rival in the Admiralty, a climax to a campaign of violence that been rocking the senior levels of the PPB. The rumour machine also rapidly spread the news that Luther Dawson had been killed by the blast. Leo Jameson visited the bedsides of both Erin and Luther every day. When Erin finally recovered consciousness after extensive brain surgery and numerous experimental neuro-therapies, she asked what had happened to Luther. He didn't answer for several days, advised by the doctors to allow her to recover more first. Eventually Jameson informed her Luther had been killed in the blast, news which devastated her. In truth, Dawson had recovered consciousness far sooner than Carson, and had gradually been persuaded by both Jameson and Milo Wrekin that Admiral Luther Jerome Dawson had made far too many enemies to not be a magnet for more violence, making him a danger to anyone who knew him, especially Erin Carson. Dawson agreed to let his name die, and told Jameson never to contact him again. Erin eventually accepted the death of Luther, and after the devoted care Jameson had given her, she asked him to marry her. After they were married, Erin made a tentative return to the world of business, which seemed to speed her recovery greatly. Though she outwardly seemed to be returning to her old self, the brain damage from the blast had caused less tangible damage, meaning she had to take a variety of medications to control huge mood swings, and unpredictable outbursts of violence towards her husband. Caring for her had further arrested Leo Jameson's career advancement, but he eventually received his promotion to full Marshal, more than justified by the quality of work, and long overdue in the eyes of many who had witnessed his superlative police work and implacable determination to enforce the law. The promotion gave him reasons to limit the time he spent with Erin, which, while he hated to be separated from her, prevented the worst of her violent outbursts, which tended to escalate the more time they spent together. He continued the deception about the death of Luther Dawson, but had a deeper deception too. Not prepared to leave the investigation under the assumption it was a political assassination, and needing to know exactly who was responsible, Jameson had discovered that the bomb blast which had been the catalyst for a massive and violent purge of the worst elements in the PPB was never actually intended to kill Admiral Dawson, but had instead been carried out by a crooked business rival of Erin Carson. To find out Dawson was alive and that Leo had deceived her about it would have been bad enough, but finding out she had been the target of the bomb that she believed had killed her love would have have destroyed her mental equilibrium, perhaps fatally. To make sure the information never surfaced, Jameson confronted the man behind the attack, interrogating him until he was certain he was telling the truth, that only himself and the assassin who planted the bomb knew the real motive for the bombing, and that the assassin had been eliminated so that the blame would fall and stay on the internecine political assassinations of the PPB. Jameson had prepared for the confrontation, knowing many of the dirty dealings of his target, and making regular reports about his pursuit of him. Once he was sure, Jameson betrayed his entire career of following the law, and for the first time, fired his weapon in anger, killing his target in cold blood. His report stated he was defending himself, and with Jameson's flawless reputation, nobody even questioned his account. Erin Carson remains an incredibly successful businesswoman, with the pinnacle of her empire being a lavish casino aboard the glamorous central hub station orbiting Focus, Beacon 3.